The Wizard's Request
by MissBonhamCartersPoppet
Summary: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has a task for our Wicked girls to complete in order to win their freedom, one that will take them around their world and into another. Begins after the meeting with the Wizard. Wicked/Glee AU crossover, multi-chap. Gelphie.
1. A Whole New World

A/N: It's been a while since I wrote anything steadily, but I couldn't let this idea go. This will be a multi-chapter AU Wicked/Glee crossover. Sounds ridiculous? Maybe, maybe not. Gelphie. Treat this as a prelude.

Reviews are always welcome!

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_Chapter One: A Whole New World_

"Are you going to kill us?" Elphaba asked defiantly, her hands wound around Glinda's waist and her voice shaking slightly.

The Wizard gave a short chuckle. "Kill you? With all that talent running through your veins? I wouldn't dream of it, my dear."

The room was dimly lit and cold though the sun shone outside of the palace walls. It was the middle of the day and yet it felt like deep black night in the Wizard's lair. Elphaba scanned the large, drafty room for exits, knowing even then that they would all be guarded heavily by some of the Wizard's officers in their bright green uniforms. She could feel Glinda shivering against her body- whether from fear or cold it was uncertain. The sensation would have been pleasurable (Elphaba felt a slight warmth in her chest, despite everything) had the circumstances not been so dire.

"If you don't plan on killing us, but you refuse to let us go, then what do you intend on doing with us? We can't stay here forever."

The Wizard clapped his red, chubby hands together in seeming delight and rose from the chair he'd been resting in. "Quite right, Miss Elphaba! Madame Morrible was right to say that you were the brightest she'd ever seen. As it happens, I have a, ah, _task_ for you and Miss Glinda to complete. One that could make good use of your particular talents."

Glinda extracted herself slightly from Elphaba's grip and folded her arms. "A task?" she said suspiciously. "What sort of thing would you need done that couldn't be done a hundred times better by one of your _guards_?" She said the last word like an insult, the sting of being grabbed roughly by the Wizard's men still fresh in her mind.

"You're smart too, it seems, Miss Glinda!" The Wizard smiled warmly. "Now, girls, I'm afraid I won't be able to tell you exactly why I need you to complete this task, but I'm certain you'll do it all the same."

"And why should we?" Glinda snapped, standing fully apart from Elphaba with her chin slightly raised. "You're a bully and a liar. Why would we do anything for you?"

Elphaba grabbed her by the arm and whispered in her ear. "Be careful!"

The Wizard's eyes turned a cold blue and his smile disappeared. "You'll do as I tell you or I'll be forced to reconsider Miss Elphaba's first option. People are either useful to me or dead. It's completely up to you to decide, Miss Glinda."

"What is it that you need?" Elphaba asked in a clipped tone, her arms once again around Glinda's waist. "Tell us so that we can leave as soon as possible."

The Wizard lifted his hat off of the small table he had been sitting next to and placed it smartly atop his balding head. "I'm afraid I can't stay much longer- I've things to do that you couldn't even fathom, Miss Elphaba. One of my guards will lead you up to your room, however, and the information will be there for you in an envelope . I want you gone by the morning, do you understand?"

Elphaba squeezed Glinda's hand cautiously as the blonde opened her mouth to argue. "Yes." She said quickly.

"Good." He smiled again, turning to depart the room. "Oh, and Miss Elphaba?" He paused on the threshold, one hand secured tightly around the thick brass doorknob. "_Don't _fail me."

With these words he was gone, and Elphaba and Glinda were left alone with the cold of the air and the weight of an unknown challenge atop their adolescent shoulders.

* * *

Elphaba held the envelope up to the light with slim green fingers. "It doesn't seem very thick." She said doubtfully, an eyebrow raised.

"Do you think we should open it?" Glinda whispered, her face flushed slightly from the excitement of the day.

Elphaba shrugged. "We'll have to, won't we? I doubt he'd actually kill us if we didn't do as he asked, but I wouldn't put it above the swine to throw us in jail for a few decades."

"Elphie..." Glinda sat on the bed they'd been given, her feet tucked underneath her against the pure silk of the sheets. "I'm scared."

Elphaba sighed and hugged the blonde again. It seemed as though they'd travelled a lifetime since leaving Shiz that stormy, drunken night, and between the rickety train rides and brutality at the hands of the Palace guards, the two had clung together more than stayed apart. Elphaba refused to let herself stop and consider the implications of this closeness, and instead focused on the fresh tears that streamed down Glinda's cheeks.

"I'm sorry that you have to be involved in all of this, my sweet. I had hoped that this trip would be my burden to bear... I was foolish in bringing you along."

"No, not foolish," she said simply, taking the envelope out of Elphaba's hands. "You were right. I may be scared, but I'd so much rather be scared here, with you, than worried sick and immobile at Shiz." She gave a watery smile which was returned by Elphaba. "Now, let's see what the Wizard has in store."


	2. The Balloon

A/N: Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed and story alerted- much appreciated. Again, feedback is always welcome :)  
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Chapter Two: The Balloon_

"So, let me understand this clearly. He wants us to travel across the land in a _floating balloon _so that we can discover what lies beyond Oz?"

Glinda raised her eyebrows, unimpressed. "He's simply insane if he thinks this'll work."

The two sat on the cold wooden floor of the room they had been assigned, sheets of paper detailing their mission spread out around them. The early morning light had begun streaming through their singular window, warning of the departure that would soon take place.

Elphaba shook her angular head quickly. "Not insane, just diabolical. I think this must be a military mission. Why else would he send us and not some of his soldiers? We'd look less like spies to the natives. The Wizard's looking to expand his reign and he needs a few snitches in the area before he begins." Elphaba's nostrils flared with distaste. "I hate being party to a plot like this. You would think the man would concentrate on the failing land he's already got, not thinking of gallivanting off into another!"

Glinda leaned back on her slim arms thoughtfully. "What I don't understand, however, is why he thinks we're best for the job. Or you are, really," she glanced over at Elphaba. "What does he mean "_a child of both worlds_"?"

They sat in silence for a moment, the contents of the Wizard's instructions washing over them again. The last line of the letter was the most confusing of all-_ Tell me what has happened, back on the ordinary Earth. _The girls had puzzled over them until they were too tired even for frustration but could make neither head nor tale of it. What was 'Earth'? And what did he mean, 'ordinary'? They could only see that their mission- though it seemed to grow stranger and more mysterious every minute- was to travel beyond Oz and feed back information to the Wizard by way of Birds who knew the passage. What his true intentions behind this plan were was unknowable, however, and Elphaba felt uneasy being at a loss for information.

"Well, we'll have to do it." Glinda said with something like chirpy finality, her tone remarkably easy for the sleepless night she and Elphaba had endured.

"Why do you sound pleased?" Elphaba asked, her outright question making Glinda's smile falter slightly.

"Well," she said, running her fingers through her still-perfect hair and smoothing her dress, "It could be worse, don't you think? In fact, I've always wanted to travel. And to see the world with you..." she trailed off, blue eyes searching Elphaba's green ones.

Elphaba opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by a stiff, formal knocking at the high wooden door of the room.

"Palace official, open up!"

Glinda slid off the bed and fixed her features into a cold glare. She opened the door and folded her arms.

"You needn't _yell, _we can hear you just fine."

The green-swathed soldier ignored her and bristled his moustache self-importantly. "I've orders to escort you to the balloon. There will be supplies waiting there for you. You're to bring the information you received last eve."

With that he turned abruptly and marched out of the room. Elphaba rolled her eyes snarkily at Glinda before following the guard.

The hallways they passed through were luxurious to a fault. The deep cream of the carpets and large oil paintings that hung the walls reminded Elphaba of the homes she had heard about from her mother. It was this sort of wealth that made her think of her classmates back at Shiz- the one's who'd forged their way in, not by academic success, but with the power of money. She'd thought that Glinda- Glinda who was glancing around at her surroundings in awe, as though she could imagine nothing more beautiful- was one of these few, but she soon realised that Glinda's air or privilege was simply a construct. The girl was, really, a simple farm child from a well-to-do but unsophisticated heritage. She was innocent almost, though much of her naivety had been destroyed in their time at Shiz- Elphaba's blood nearly boiled at the thought of the Philosophy Club and the things that would have happened to _her _Glinda-

The guard stopped suddenly and turned to face one of the cream doors of the passage. It seemed to Elphaba to be no different from the dozens that they had passed, but as it opened a roomy courtyard was revealed, filled with greenery and a platform.

"Elphie... _Look_ at it!" Glinda held Elphaba's hand with her left and pointed to the huge hot air balloon with her right. The balloon and its net stood at least fifteen metres tall, the striped cloth that was bound together to form the balloon was bright and beautiful. The balloon seemed a thing of wonder amidst the solemn faces of the Wizard's soldiers and the weapons they held. For the first time Elphaba allowed some of Glinda's infectious excitement to seep into her countenance; she, too, wanted to board the balloon as soon as possible.

"Alright, captain," she said, addressing the guard who had escorted them. "Let us up."

And with that they climbed into the balloon and felt their world grow tiny beneath them as they rose and rose and rose, and embraced the clear blue sky.

* * *

"I spy with my little eye... Something green!"

"It's grass."

"No."

"Are you just saying that because I guessed correctly the first time?"

There was a silence. "Oh, alright, it was grass." Glinda huffed and shuffled closer to Elphaba in the basket. "But you can't blame me! There's nothing else to see up here! It's just been grass and grass and more grass for the last- well, who knows how long!"

Elphaba folded the map she'd been holding and lifted her arm, making room for Glinda to move beneath it. "I know, my sweet, I know. But Oz is geographically very far from its neighbours, and the Wizard says that the place we're supposed to be going to is even further removed that just Oz's immediate neighbours."

Glinda frowned and moved the map off of Elphaba's lap. "It is quite strange, isn't it? What he wrote in the instructions? Wouldn't it have been more adept to put a detailed passage instead of just saying "_You'll know when you reach it._"? How will we know? Oh, Elphie, it's so _frustrating_!"

Elphaba sighed and stood to stretch her legs. "Funny though it is to say this, I think I trust that the Wizard knows what he's doing. Not because he's suddenly turned into an _honourable fellow _or anything ridiculous like that," here she grimaced for effect, "but because he wants us to succeed in our task just as much as we want our freedom. I have no problem believing that we'll make it to our destination."

They stood and looked awhile out at the view beneath them. They'd been travelling in the balloon for a full day and any sign of civilisation had been left behind many acres ago. The sun was sinking low in the sky and a chill had infected the wind. Elphaba quickly removed her black coat and wrapped it around Glinda's shoulders, covering up the sweet bare skin which was spotted with goose freckles from the cold.

"Isn't it pretty?" Glinda sighed, her eyes on the landscape below which had turned a faint orange and pink in the sunset.

"It never fails to amaze me, Glinda, how you manage to find beauty and hope even in situations where others would see nothing but sadness."

Glinda smiled and turned to Elphaba. "Well, it's my optimism that let me find you, isn't it?"

They hovered a moment, green and blushed pink faces intimately close. Glinda's voice hitched in her throat and she moved an inch forward, waiting for... Well, she wasn't altogether certain.

Elphaba coughed suddenly and turned around, making space in the basket to lay out the blanket they had found earlier.

"We should rest. I've a feeling tomorrow will be a long day."

With that she lay down and closed her eyes, leaving room for Glinda to move in next to her.

"Goodnight, Elphie." Glinda said sadly.

_I love you, _she thought.


End file.
